


Blue Dead Redemption

by mehs



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, alternative universe: cowboys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2020-06-22 09:05:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19664215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mehs/pseuds/mehs
Summary: Veta Lopis is new in the frontier territory of Infinity to investigate a team of vigilantes that have been making the frontier a little difficult. Unfortunately for her, they're just her type.





	1. Chapter 1

I. Lasky

At the time, Sheriff Lasky should have listened to his Deputy about the type of trouble he was allowing to stay in town. Five of them: the ringleader, the second in command, the damn jackrabbit, the eagle and the bear always stood out of a crowd. At the time, he told Deputy Palmer that they bring stability and no gang would be dumb enough to attack the town of Infinity if they knew that they were around.

Unluckily for Thomas Lasky, gangs were that dumb and that’s why Ringleader was throwing a beaten and bruised Frank Miller on his stoop. 

“We really should stop meeting like this,” Lasky joked as he walked over to the bounty board and pulled Frank Miller’s drawing with a flourish. 

“Eventually.” Ringleader replied dryly as the others looked at each other with a sly look. One day, they think, he’ll realize what Lasky is doing. Deputy Palmer was already leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed as she gave them all a visual interrogation: 

Where did you find him? 

Where you told us to find him. 

Uh-huh and his men? 

Don’t know, looks like they scattered. 

Don’t suppose you know why they’re missing their trigger fingers and roaming the desert. 

Maybe they got a little too itchy. 

She knew to skip song and dance by now, getting information from that group was trying to pry teeth out of a stubborn soldier, and she was the stubborn soldier. Ringleader pointed his head in the direction of the town, telling the team to scatter to pick up supplies. 

You haven’t been paid yet. 

Don’t worry, we have it covered. 

Ringleader went to talk to the Sheriff’s office to discuss their usual arrangement, leaving the rest of them to their own devices. 

II. Jackrabbit 

She usually goes to the stables first every time she’s in town. Her horse gets only the best stable, the best hay and the best brush for the night. For as much as they are myths, sometimes she realizes that it takes people a back that the Jackrabbit is a woman with a shotgun on her back, and a permanent smirk on her face. She gives Kurt a small kiss on his nose, even as she’s greeted with a neighing noise behind her. 

“You keep doing that Sam, and one of these days you’re going to get your nose broken.” She turned to face her little brother, even though he purposefully flirted with the nice girl behind the counter at the general store to give him a discount on only the finest apples. 

“You’re welcome, Big Sis.” He retorted, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned against her knowing full well that even though he dwarfed her that she she could throw him to the moon and back if he got too cheeky. 

“Did we get paid well this time around?” She asked as she grabbed his apple from his hand before he could take a bite of it and handed fed it to White Lightning (Sam, that’s a ridiculous name and I refuse to sign the forms with him on it, she said when he bought her). 

“You know how John is.” Sam retorted, pulling out her share of the bounty money, “Besides, he pays to keep Lasky’s mouth shut that we’re here.” 

For a moment, Kelly thought that she’d hear Fred piping up about having backup plans, but he wasn’t there. 

“Where’s Fred?” She asked, bumping into Sam’s shoulder affectionately as he watched the train come in. 

“You know how he gets, he keeps an eye on any government trains coming in. Figures that we should keep a low profile.” Sam sighed, “That man has a backup plan for everything that happens in this town.” 

“He cares about this town.” Kelly corrected, “It’s home.” 

Sam agreed with her, looking at their brother keeping track of everything. He couldn’t let this place end up like Reach. He just couldn’t. 

“Com’on, let’s go see if John’s finished flirting with the sheriff.” 

III. Lopis 

A string of murders has brought her to the frontier. State governments don’t really trust the federal law men that they put out here, like they’re supposed to spy on them. She told Arlo that this was considered a favor to come all the way out to Infinity territory, but she didn’t say that she’d like it. A string of murders end right here, in supposed federal land and she’s going to get to the end of it. 

As the train left the luscious landscape of Gao City and moved further and further out, she could feel the twitching in her bones. Something this vast didn’t need to be tamed; it took the beauty out of it; the horses running free by her window, the birds in the sky and the rabbits hopping along. At least that’s what the little kid behind her saw; what she saw were vultures and hawks circling, horses running from gunshots and rabbits trying to find cover from their predators. 

She didn’t like being the person that saw all of these things, especially when there was the promise of hope on the horizon. 

“These are Gao citizens,” she remembered, “Doesn’t mean that once they cross over into their territory, they don’t deserve justice.” 

She expected her arrival to reveal more about the outer territories. She disembarked from the train to a whole wide bustling world that made Gao seem quaint. The entire town/city was alive with activity, and she assumed that the sheriff would be there waiting for her. Deputy Palmer said that she would be there to greet her at exactly 1600 hours (how hard is it for them to talk to civilians?) and it was roughy 1610. Not a great start to her murder investigation but in her eyes, anyone could be a hidden monster. 

At roughly 1611, she decided that she would find Palmer for herself. Over the seas of heads, one stood out above the rest of them and she decided that was going to be her guiding star. He was reading the paper with a frown on his face, hip slightly cocked with a hunting knife in his side holster. He was slightly overdressed compared to the rest of the soldiers, more of a wanderer than a soldier. 

More like a fighter. 

Are you really going to be that easy to find? She asked herself, big guy, might lose his temper when something goes wrong. 

He must have sensed her stare because he looked up from his paper, and very politely asked, “Can I help you with something ma’am?” 

Not to be deterred otherwise, she was afterall an inspector and inspecting things was what she did for a living. 

“I’m looking for the sheriff’s office. Deputy Sarah Palmer, to be exact.” 

He must have not expected such a straightforward answer because for a moment, she could have sworn that he hesitated. He folded up the paper that he was looking at and tucked it under his arm. 

“You’re going to have to get to the other side of the street.” He replied, even though he was already walking so that he could part the crowd for her, “The sheriff’s office is right down the street, to the left.” 

“Nice of you to help.” Lopis replied, already gathering her bags and almost walking into the throng of people to indicate that she was not having any of his assistance. 

“You’re welcome, ma’am.” 

Something told her that it wasn’t going to be the last time that she saw him. 

III. Ringleader 

Logically, if you asked him why he always found himself outside this particular inn every time he was in town, he’d tell you that he was just being a good businessman. Everyone who was anyone knew that if you had it in with members of the Assembly, that you had a pulse on every feed of intel in town. 

Realistically (as Kelly always put it), you could tell it was one particular inn keep that knew that his room was to be the quietest one in the back, and on the ground. You’d also reckon by the way that they were always talking until early hours, that they were obviously not talking shop for 7 hours. 

Reality was that John and Cortana had gotten out of the fall of Reach together during the war. She wanted to settle in for Infinity, make a life for herself in the town and she wanted John to stay with her. Sad thing was that she knew her old soldier too well, that he’d always ride off into the sunset and save that poor carriage that got caught in the wrong place in the wrong time. 

So, they settled for this. He’d roll into town, causing trouble and she’d always greet him with a “welcome home, john.” 

This time was no different. Roland told the spymaster that trouble walked through her front door, and there he was hat in hand and a new cut across his face. 

“You keep coming here with more presents for me,” she sighed, getting down his bottle of whiskey and a glass to pour. “Girls like flowers, you know.” 

“You hate flowers.” He retorted dryly, hopping on his seat and dropping his guns next to him. 

“Next time, just have Fred pick them for you. Last time you got them, I started itching.” 

“That was the time before,” Roland corrected from the back room, “The last time, we made moonshine out of them.” 

“That’s Sam’s fault.” John defended. 

They both knew that she didn’t like flowers, she liked intel. Under the commotion, he slid her an envelope filled with her cut of the bounty. 

“Will the others be joining us tonight?” She asked as she filed her stash away in the rainy day/shoot out in the middle of town fund. 

“Yes ma’am.” John said, “Heard that there were a string of murders from the Gao territory.” 

Cortana felt a little bad that she got slightly excited. John would be staying in town for longer than a couple of days and she could actually get to see him on a daily basis again. They made a good team, they really did.

“Heard they’re sending over a special investigator.” She replied, leaning up against the bar with her head in her chin. John raised a scarred eyebrow (such a handsome eyebrow, even though it had a huge gash that ran across it) and didn’t say anything about it. 

“Heard she’s something fierce.” She added, “She could give me a run for my money.” 

“If the Covenant couldn’t make you move, I doubt an inspector would.” 

“Flattery gets you nowhere.” 

“I know where my head rests.”


	2. The Old Man Howls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John's an old dog that can feel a storm coming.

  
  


I: spymaster 

He always woke up before her, leaving her to an empty bed. It must have been a tough ride this time around, he was still asleep under her. Cortana inhaled, relishing the moment that she had with him; John fast asleep under her cheek, her fingers curled up against his bare chest and his hand resting on her hip. She had to be careful, though, she didn’t want to open up the bandages that he put across his waist last night. 

One of these days he’s going to show up at her door and she won’t have a chance to say goodbye. Almost out of nervousness, she placed a small kiss on his chest, which earned her a content purring noise from him as he turned over and scooped her up with him. 

She’d let him have the morning, she supposed. For two hours she lay with him in a haze, watching the sunrise and listening to him breathe in his sleep. He was warm, and he was here with her in their tiny bedroom in her inn. Horses were waking up, and the sounds of town were slowly starting to stir. 

“The sheriff will be looking for you soon,” he muttered to against her ear, to signal that it was time for her to return to her room so that they wouldn’t be seen together. 

“Roland can get him his black coffee and eggs,” she complained wrapping his arm back around her in defiance of what he thought that she needed to do. 

“Cortana,” he whispered tenderly in her ear, “I’ll be back in a week.” 

She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her forehead against his. 

“Promise?” 

“You know me.” 

“It’s the other people that I don’t.” 

II: lopis 

Veta was here far earlier than everyone else. As far as she could tell, the saloon was the middle of everything in town. In the morning, where people got breakfast, in the afternoon, people played cards and at night, they got drunk and spent the night here. Some time after 0900, a woman came down the stairs (she already knew who this woman was, but she liked to keep up the pretense of being new in town) wearing jeans and a button down shirt - quite unlike the other owners she’d met before. 

“You’re new in town.” She greeted, her hand hovering over the whiskey or the pot of hot coffee that was brewing on the back. Veta took the second to fully study her: short, with black-almost blue hair that was down to her jawline, with a very feminine build. 

“Two sugars and two creams, please.” Veta requested before a beat, “Sorry, your friend said that I could sit anywhere.” 

The owner looked at the empty saloon and smiled, “I’m sure the nones of people here are real upset that you took their spot.” 

She disappeared for a few moments in what Veta assumed was the back, only to return fifteen minutes later with the coffee she asked for and the breakfast she didn’t. Veta was not ungrateful for it, it just showed that she was someone who knew the routine more than most. 

“Cortana, right?” She asked, earning herself an eyebrow before Cortana leaned on the countertop. 

“That’s right.”

Veta bit into a piece of her bacon whilst staring at her. It must have been a while before she heard Sheriff Lasky come in. 

“Good morning, Sheriff.” Cortana said, already sliding over a cup of coffee to Lasky, “Take it your date was a little early.” 

Oh, Veta thought, she’s good. Real good. 

“Nothing gets past you, Cortana,” He laughed taking a sip of his coffee as she went into the back to get him his plate. “Inspector Lopis, fancy meeting you here.” 

“Sheriff Lasky, how are you doing this fine morning?” She replied with a small cheers with her own cup. This stuff was amazing, like the person making it knew exactly what she needed to get her started. It must have shown on her face because she was interrupted by Lasky chuckling- 

“No one knows how she does, but she’s known around here for knowing what it is that every person needs.” 

No doubt, Veta said to herself as she watched Cortana futz around, getting orders and serving up meals before people can finish them. Lasky’s small talk was turning into white noise as she observed the place around her: patrons were docile, even the drunk in the corner had a blanket over him, and no one was giving Cortana or Roland any hassle. 

That was what was bothering her. It was  _ too  _ calm for being all the way out in the frontier, Cortana didn’t even have a shotgun above the drinks. It was like someone had domesticated the west. 

Or maybe she didn’t know something. 

“Something wrong, Inspector?” Lasky asked, pulling her out of her own thought process. Lasky was looking at her over his coffee cup, and maybe he had been this entire time and she had been caught up in their surroundings to notice it. 

“It’s just an odd town, isn’t it?” She asked nonchalantly, gesturing to the saloon doors that had stopped swinging for a moment. 

“You’re wondering why Senator Del Rio asked you to come.” 

She scoffed, “Senator Del Rio has his own re-election campaign up his ass, as far as I’m concerned. I’m here because there’s a problem with your neighbor, Gao.” 

Gao was a small settlement that was about a four day ride non-stop from the frontier that Infinity resided it. Where Infinity had the reputation of being the epicenter of the strange and unusual, Gao was a town where people came to make a new start, to raise a family and have a future. 

Veta was incredibly protective of it and its citizens. 

“Senator Del Rio, however, has been flooded with letters about serial murders plaguing our town - my town - and for some odd reason he seems to think it all starts here.” 

Lasky’s inhale told her all she needed to know. 

“You think it’s from our town.” 

“I don’t think anything,” Veta retorted, “I let the evidence do the work.” 

III: fred 

Maybe it was bad cosmic timing that made Fred walk in for breakfast and a cup of coffee. Their table, at the back, already had their coffee and their food waiting for them. Usually, it was either Sam or John that were already half way through their breakfast before Fred or Kelly rolled in, but today he was the first one. 

John was probably still upstairs with Cortana, waiting for the perfect opportunity to come downstairs (read: jump from the window into a well placed hay bale and/or just crashing through). Cortana was already at her spot at the bar, refilling coffee for someone he didn’t quite--

Oh yes, the woman from the train station yesterday. 

He took a second to take in how out of place she seemed: white shirt with a black waistcoat and at her side just a single holster. Not that he was expecting her to wear a dress (he could hear Kelly’s judgement already), but she wasn’t a traveler that was just passing through, because no one passed through Infinity looking that neat and pressed. 

“Never thought that I’d see you again.” She said across the bar, her eyes meeting his in the mirror that barmen usually kept above their wares to see if someone was pulling a gun on them. 

“Seems like you found where you were going.” He replied, awkwardly standing across the establishment and talking to her over the different people. At this point, he assumed that everyone was aware that if they were talking to someone, it’s best not to interrupt. He hoped that his conversation wouldn’t end like the other ones do --in Sam picking someone up and physically throwing them out of a window. 

She eyed him for a moment, before beckoning him over to sit with her. Fred hesitated -- the others would be worried about where he went. From behind her, he could see Cortana raising an eyebrow and reaching to grab a cup; she thought that she could defend him from John, distract him with … whatever they did when they were alone. 

“Wouldn’t hurt, I guess.” He mumbled under his breath before joining Veta at the bartop. She was tiny next to him, something that he was usually able to take in stride. However, being this close to someone else? He was suddenly reminded of his massive size, and he had to fight the urge to make himself seem smaller. 

Cortana had swung around to their table and brought Fred his food, and given him his extra cup of coffee - as if to tell him that John was getting restless and they’d have to ride out soon. Fred internally sighed, John being restless meant that there was something on the horizon. The man was like a dog, he could feel a disturbance coming and it made him uncomfortable. 

Then again, they weren’t conscripted for comfort. 

Silence hung in the air as the two of them ate. Fred was very self conscious and ate as little as possible around her as to not seem rude. 

“The food isn’t that bad here,” Veta commented as Cortana disappeared into the back, “Then again I don’t know how she does it.” 

“She has her ways.” Fred sagely replied. That was Cortana's business after all, especially after the war. 

There had been a deal made on an empty deathbed, and it's one deal that even they weren't privy of knowing. They had been separated during the war when the enemy broke through the defenses of their home, and along with their memories, Fred always wondered if something in John died that day too. 

“Is that why you and your crew like coming here so much?” Veta dropped that knowledge like it was a small morsel of what she knew. She spun around in her stool to face him. 

“And I’ve been waiting for a while for one of you to show up.” 

Dammit, he hated when John was right. 

"Happy to be of assistance." 

Maybe he was the reason why John was always right. 


	3. spite and promotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's always more to a story

**i. bear**

The feeling had sunk deep in his stomach; he didn’t have a poker face like John. The tiny firecracker sitting in front of him had tracked him? Tracked his entire crew here. His mind reeled with the different possibilities of what would be the implications. Would she find out about -

“Hey now,” Cortana interjected, holding the other woman’s coffee cup almost threateningly, “I don’t come into your business and interrogate your customers.” 

Fred was thankful for Cortana being their shield at times. Whatever happened between John and her all those years ago, he was grateful it happened. Cortana stared her down for a moment before handing her cup over. 

“Sure thing, Cortana.” She said, as she slid off her stool. The look that she gave Fred meant that she wasn’t done with him so soon. 

**ii. wolf**

The air between Cortana, the bartender, and Linda was a tense quiet. Between the two of them was a shared love for the same person, but there was an air of distrust from Linda that stemmed from a long history of people treating people like them horribly. 

Linda understood what it meant when Cortana handed her, and only her, an envelope. It was a common exchange that happened; she gathered intel for John, but then she always gathered more for Linda to look out for. 

“She came in and interrogated Fred?” She asked pointedly, trying to ignore the fact that Cortana was wearing her brother’s flannel shirt. 

“Seems like. I’m awaiting news from my source, but keep an eye out. She seems harmless-” 

“So far.” Linda added quietly. 

Cortana nodded in agreement, watching the bar’s doors swing open and closed as people wandered here and there. 

“Maybe for a while, you could stay here.” She dropped her voice low, “It might be good for them, to be hidden here.” 

Linda regarded her with a blank look, trying to find some tell on her face that would give her true intentions up. Was it love for John? Or was she playing him. She got off her stool and walked out, leaving Cortana to sigh deeply before plastering a fake smile on her face. 

Linda always took the rooftops across town back to the stables, she knew that she’d encounter Kelly somewhere playing cards or Sam petting the horses, but this time she was heading to the highest point in town, above the old church that was supposedly haunted. 

Linda climbed through pillars and columns with her rifle on her back, through a hole in the ceiling where the bell had fallen through years prior. Up here, the world was simpler; no nuance of interpersonal greys, just a view of everything that she wanted to protect. It must have been hours, she had noticed the sun set and the shadows change but the concept of it as time had lost her. She heard someone climb up to her perch, her fingers ready on her revolver. By the time that the sound had reached her - 

“Whoa, whoa!!” Came Kelly’s voice, “What have I told you about shoving that thing in my face?” 

Linda inhaled deeply at her sister, even going as far as to scowl at her when she sat down next to her and pulled her close. 

“You’ve been up here a while.” She noted as she pulled out some food for her. “It’s not that good, you know.” 

Linda shrugged as she took the sandwich, knowing that the exhale that came from Kelly was her suppressing the urge to shove her own food in her face. 

“There’s a bite missing.” 

“Your fault for leaving you food open for John to eat it.” Kelly replied. She looked at her cautiously, knowing that there was something on Linda’s mind. 

“What about Fred? Did he get anything?” 

“Linda.” Kelly said forcefully, “What’s going on.” 

“Fred got into trouble again.” 

**iii. lasky**

The night is quiet, save for the sound of crickets in the air and Tom, so desperately wanted it to stay that way. He didn’t live too far from the heart of Infinity, opting to live somewhere between the jailhouse and the barracks where the men lived. 

It was quiet, gave him a view of the entire city and beyond just slightly over the hill. One of his favorite things to do was to watch the sunset, and then the city go to sleep. There was a glass of scotch out and waiting for his visitor on the veranda, their daily routine of going through the events of the day was a sort of bonding moment for the two of them. She was going to be on time, as she always was. The slight jingle of her boots confirmed it, as he heard her come up the steps onto his veranda. 

“Hey there,” Palmer greeted as she took off her belt with her gun and set it on the wooden table between the two of them. “Long day?” 

Lasky huffed a small laugh as he took a long drink from his own glass and ran his thumb across the rim.

“Got a telegram,” He sighed, “Del Rio won the election.” 

“Morons of a feather vote together.” Palmer retorted as she took her own drink, before looking at how pensive Lasky was. For a second she hesitated taking his hand, but the way that he looked out into the sunset made her take pause. 

“He’s not going to -” Sarah started before Lasky snorted. 

“I like being Sheriff.” He said, “Always thought that moving out here was just taking land from farmers. Then in the war, I always thought it was smarter for someone to have their best interests at heart.” 

“You think he’s going to promote you outta spite?” Palmer asked, almost selfishly. She liked Tom, they worked well together. He always had her back when the others deferred to him over her and he always had the best interests of this town at heart. Few people held that weight, no one really needed a mayor because they knew that they had Sheriff lasky to help them out. 

“That's why he sent Lopis?” Sarah asked, breaking him out of his revere for a moment. He inhaled deeply before taking another drink. 

“According to him, this town is overrun with outlaws and Veta Lopis is here to stop it. She came at the recommendation of Arlo--” 

“Arlo? The glorified receptionist of Gao?” Palmer scoffed, “Really, Tom? What is she going to do, find out who’s been jumping their checks? Give us a break.” 

He gave her a reassuring smile, thankful that she was being protecting over this town and over him. 

“Be nice, Sarah. She’s a good detective - she’s known for finding that serial killer--”

“And you’ve been keeping this town safe, there’s no difference. He should promote you.” 

“Del Rio - sorry, Governor Del Rio -- promote me out of spite?” Lasky said, looking at her with a deep contemplation. She smiled in reply, “Never thought of it that way, Tom.” 

“I like working with you, Sarah. I don’t want to be more than a Sheriff.” 

“Couldn’t ask for a better partner, Tom.” 

  
**iv. Unknown**

They’re usually back by this time, they note. They’re getting cabin fever, they want to be let out, they said that they could go on their next raid. Calm down, they’re never late, especially now. 

They are pacing back and forth, this ranch is too small and after all they are behind enemy lines. They wouldn’t even be noticed, after all --

No, they promised Eagle that they wouldn’t bring any attention to his friends. 

Friends? They’re the enemy! 

The war’s over. 

The war is never over. 

  
  



End file.
